When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his local team debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 spectators in 2019, his manager at the time predicted, “we haven’t seen the best from this boy.”
That statement turned out to be a bit of an underestimation.
Now aged 22 and a Premier League regular with Bournemouth, the playmaker has just received his maiden summons to the senior Three Lions team.
His rise from non-league prodigy to potential international star is a true blast from the past, a story seldom told in the modern game.
Next stop? The World Cup?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a pro footballer, never mind featuring in the Premier League and playing for England as well,” Scott said previously.
“It’s been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my loved ones.”
But how did Alex Scott, referred to affectionately as the ‘Guernsey Grealish’, end up at this level?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has not been a typical one.
He was part of over four years in Southampton’s youth system from the age of eight, leaving school early every Friday to fly from his home on the Channel Island to the mainland so he could attend training and feature for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, however, they released him. Bournemouth gave him an option and he remained with them for a while, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on Guernsey and turn out for his hometown club.
“My form had dipped and traveling every week was becoming a bit too much,” he recalled.
“All I desired to chill at home with my mates at the weekend because I had missed almost four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of childhood back was something I really needed.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by returning and taking part in island football was massive for me. That proved to be probably one of the most important factors that got me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, the teenager became the youngest player in the club’s records when he came on as a 57th-minute substitute in their Isthmian League match at the opposition.
“I had sleepless nights because I was figuring out how I could include him in the team because he’s that good,” Guernsey boss the coach stated back then.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his possession of the ball is exceptional, the way he carries the ball, he’s pure quality.”
Making a comeback to the professional game
Championship side Bristol City – owned by Guernsey resident Steve Lansdown – had been tracking Scott’s development after an promising beginning in adult football and arranged a trial in late 2019.
“The whole experience was chaos,” recalled Scott. “The first day I trained with the youth team, the second day I was with the first team, which was a total shock.
“Midweek I featured for Guernsey FC in the capital, travelled back and on the Friday, I took the field for the youth team and netted a three goals. It was almost a done deal for me to put pen to paper on a deal.”
Within 18 months, still well before his 18th birthday, he was earning his senior debut against Luton.
Scott went on to make eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being deployed as a wing-back – and sometimes further forward as a number 10 – such was his adaptability and versatility. Even at that young age and playing out of position he was their best player.
With his ability to drive the ball up the pitch, and with his socks down to his ankles, he picked up the moniker ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a reference to Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 season he claimed the EFL Championship’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s best XI and was voted the club’s top player and top youngster.
“No doubt, I believe he’ll play for his country and I think he’ll go on to the pinnacle of the sport,” his former manager, the player’s manager at Ashton Gate, stated previously.
Within three months later, he joined Bournemouth for a reported fee of £25m.
Getting his major transfer
Scott endured a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to make his Premier League debut after a knee injury in pre-season, and then finding himself inconsistent of the team.
His second campaign was just as disrupted, this time by a surgery which ruled him out for nearly several months.
“I had quite a good run at the end of last season, which was good to have, then I broke my jaw,” explained he.
“It was almost another setback and it was shaping up as a pretty bad start for the first half.”
But he was then selected by the national team for the Under-21 European Championships – and managed to get himself fit for the tournament.
He started five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the competition in Slovakia, developing a formidable understanding in midfield with his teammate, who in turn has excelled for the first team under Thomas Tuchel.
And he has begun the current campaign just as impressively for Bournemouth, playing in all matches to guide them to fifth in the standings.
“To play for the England senior team would be among the most special moments of my career,” Scott stated recently.
“The responsibility is mine, I must continue developing as a player, keep enjoying football, improving every day, and with luck I catch the eye of the national coach and get my chance.”
